Category: Cakes

Espresso Pound Cake

Published on by Dawn9 Comments

Work has been a little more stressful than usual lately – my team is in the midst of a re-org, and I haven’t been able to do a lot of cooking, let alone baking.  I am going through withdrawal.  Badly.  I can tell that my patience is wearing thin, and I am trying to hold it together, but it is not easy.  Exercise is a good stress release, but baking is definitely the best.  Yes, I do thrive on stress, but when I can’t bake, things get a little crazy.

Today I was in an all-day meeting, and when I needed a little stress break, I would think about what I was going to bake next.  Many ideas ran through my head…I can’t wait to bake them and share.  Oh, and I will have a new team soon to share stuff with – they have no idea what they are in store for – that is if my husband and the girls let me bring the leftovers to work…

I actually made this pound cake a few weeks ago, and we loved it.  It was super easy to make, and it came out extremely moist and flavorful.  I wasn’t sold on the glaze, until I put it on and let it set – it was perfect – just the right amount of sweetness to go with the cake.  Even though I haven’t been able to bake – writing about the process is actually soothing – but no, not a substitution.   Thanks Bon Appetit for the great recipe – and watch out…I can tell a binge is coming soon.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup plus 6 tablespoons unbleached all-purpse flour
  • 2 tablespoons corn starch
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon or 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice or ground cardamom
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons instant espresso powder or instant coffee
  • 1 cup chopped toasted pecans, walnuts, hazelnuts, or almonds, divided
  • 1 cup dried sweetened cranberries or dried unsweetened cherries or blueberries, divided
  • 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
  • 2 tablespoons milk

Preparation

Preheat oven to 325°F. Butter a 9x5x3-inch metal loaf pan. Dust pan with flour, tapping out excess.

Whisk flour, cornstarch, cinnamon, baking powder, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in medium bowl. Whisk eggs and vanilla in small bowl to blend. Using an electric mixer, beat butter, sugar, brown sugar, and 1 tablespoon espresso powder in large bowl until fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. With mixer running, gradually add egg mixture. Add flour mixture in 2 additions, beating on low speed just to blend after each addition. Beat batter 30 seconds on medium speed. Add 3/4 cup pecans and 3/4 cup cranberries; beat just to incorporate evenly. Transfer batter to pan.

Bake cake until top is golden and toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, about 1 hour 10 minutes. Cool in pan on rack 5 minutes. Invert cake; remove pan. Turn cake top side up; cool on rack.

Mix powdered sugar, milk, and 2 teaspoons espresso powder in medium bowl. Spread glaze over top of cake, allowing some to drip down sides. Sprinkle 1/4 cup nuts and 1/4 cup cranberries over. Let stand until glaze sets, about 20 minutes.

DO AHEAD Can be made 5 days ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.

For a printer-friendly version of this recipe, please click here:  Espresso Pound Cake

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Crème Caramel Bread Pudding

Published on by Dawn8 Comments

Bread pudding, comfort food at it’s finest.  As a kid, bread pudding completely grossed me out.  I couldn’t understand how you could make a delicious dessert out of a loaf of bread.  It just didn’t seem right.  For many years, I stayed away from it – even as an adult – bread pudding was not my idea of a wonderful treat.

About five years ago I was at a very good local restaurant, and on the dessert menu was Banana Bread Pudding.  Now I thought to myself, this is something worth ordering.  Banana Bread combined with a custard all baked together, now we’re talking.  I loved it – it was crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, and it was served with caramel drizzled on top – I basically licked the plate clean.

That’s all it took to get me started on bread pudding – just wait until next fall when I post my Pumpkin Bread Pudding…  I saw this recipe over a year ago in Bon Appetit, and it sat in my pantry waiting for me to make it all this time.  I just had to wait for the right occasion, and make sure I had a lot of people to serve.  After about a year, and it was still in the pile, I figured I just had to bite the bullet.  The next occasion that came up, that was it.  So, I brought it to my daughter’s book group – warning people that I was only going to bring an adult dessert.  Well – not only did the mom’s love it – but the girls loved it also.  It came out perfect – and tasted just like the most wonderful french toast with maple syrup on the bottom.  It was crispy on the top, soft and rich on the inside, just the way I like it.  Good thing I finally came to my senses.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/4 cups (packed) dark brown sugar
  • 4 1/2 cups 1/2-inch cubes crustless egg bread (such as challah or brioche)
  • 7 large eggs
  • 2 cups heavy whipping cream
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
  • 2 pinches of salt

Preparation

Spread brown sugar evenly in bottom of 8x8x2-inch glass baking dish (or other 9- to 10-cup dish). Sprinkle bread cubes evenly over. Combine eggs, cream, milk, 2 tablespoons sugar, vanilla, nutmeg, and salt in large bowl; whisk to blend well. Pour custard through sieve over bread in dish. Let pudding stand 30 minutes, occasionally pressing on bread to submerge.

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Place baking dish in roasting pan. Pour enough lukewarm water into roasting pan to come halfway up sides of baking dish. Bake pudding until set, brown on top, and small knife inserted into center comes out clean, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Let cool in water 20 minutes.

Spoon bread pudding into dessert bowls and serve warm.

test-kitchen tip

To keep the water in the roasting pan from boiling (which would affect the texture of the pudding), add several ice cubes to the water every 10 to 15 minutes to bring down the temperature.

For a printer-friendly version of this recipe, please click here:  Crème Caramel Bread Pudding

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Classic Gingerbread Cake

Published on by Dawn4 Comments

Is there a rule about posting gingerbread cake after the holiday season is over?  Am I breaking some type of blogging etiquette?  I apologize if I am, but I was just way to busy in December to make this, and I couldn’t let it wait until next year. 

I saw this in Cook’s Illustrated, and it was the beer that did it for me – not just any beer, but Guinness Stout.  Then I started thinking that maybe this could be a type of St. Patrick’s Day cake – and as such, I am giving you all lots of warning so you can prepare to make this for your St. Pattie’s Day celebration.  It is fantastic.  It is so rich and spicy, yet decadent at the same time – like there is some really expensive chocolate in that cake.  No – it is all the stout’s doing.  It gives it that deep rich almost chocolately flavor.  I actually brought some pieces to a meeting at work – knowing it would be a long afternoon – and people raved about it.  Well – whether it is for St. Patrick’s Day coming up, or for next December – now I have a great recipe for Gingerbread cake.  Do you want to know the best part?  The recipe doesn’t call for a whole beer, so you have to drink the rest while it is baking…

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup Guinness Stout
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2/3 cup mild molasses
  • 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting pan
  • 2 tablespoons ground ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon table salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon finely ground black pepper (optional)
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1/3 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 tablespoon finely grated fresh ginger

Preparation

Adjust oven rack to the middle position and pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour an 8-inch square baking pan.

Bring stout to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally.  Remove from heat and stir in baking soda (mixture will foam vigorously).  When foaming subsides, stir in molasses, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until dissolved; set mixture aside.  Whisk flour, ground ginger, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and pepper (optional) together in a large bowl; set aside.

Transfer stout mixture to a large bowl.  Whisk in eggs, oil, and granulated ginger until combined.  Whisk wet mixture into flour mixture in thirds, stirring vigorously until completely smooth after each addition.

Transfer batter to prepared pan and gently tap pan against counter 3 or 4 times to dislodge any large air bubbles.  Bake until the top of the cake is just firm to touch and a toothpick comes out clean, 35 to 45 minutes.  Cook cake in the pan on a wire rack, about 1 1/2 hours.  Cut into squares and serve warm or at room temperature.

Makes 16 large squares.

For a printer-friendly version of this recipe, please click here:  Classic Gingerbread Cake

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Banana Snacking Cake

Published on by Dawn4 Comments

Do you ever get tired of making banana bread with your overripe bananas?  I actually don’t – my family loves my mother’s banana bread recipe, I can always count on each and every one of them to fully enjoy it when I pop one in the oven.  But, I can never say no to a snack cake.  There is something just so appealing to a cake that asking you to eat it as a snack – instead of dessert.  It is like you are getting permission to have a few desserts during the day.  So, when I was flipping through my Cooking Light magazine, and found this recipe, I could not help but run out to the store and get some bananas to hide until they were too brown to eat.

So, first you must look at the ingredients for this cake.  This is probably one of the healthiest cakes I have ever made, but you would hardly know it.  There is very little sugar in this cake, therefore, it is extremely important that you make sure the bananas are VERY overripe.  I am talking black skins – spots are just not going to cut it.  The riper the banana, the higher the sugar content, and that natural sugar is what you need to make this cake sweet enough.  This cake stayed moist for a couple of days, and the whole family loved it.  We cut it into 16 pieces, and at about 100 calories a piece, this cake was spectacular.

Ingredients

  • 6.75  ounces  all-purpose flour (about 1 1/2 cups)
  • 1/3  cup  sugar
  • 1  teaspoon  baking powder
  • 1  teaspoon  baking soda
  • 1  teaspoon  ground cinnamon
  • 1/4  teaspoon  salt
  • 1  cup  plain low-fat yogurt
  • 3/4  cup  mashed ripe banana (about 1 medium)
  • 1/4  cup  canola oil
  • 1  teaspoon  vanilla extract
  • 1  large egg, lightly beaten
  • Cooking spray

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375°.

Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and the next 5 ingredients (through salt) in a large bowl; stir with a whisk. Make a well in center of flour mixture.

Combine yogurt, banana, oil, vanilla, and egg in a small bowl; stir until well blended. Add yogurt mixture to the flour mixture in large bowl, stirring just until moist.

Pour the batter into a 9-inch square metal baking pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 375° for 20 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool cake in the pan 10 minutes on wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

For a printer-friendly version of this recipe, please click here:  Banana Snacking Cake

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Blueberry Coffee Cake

Published on by Dawn4 Comments

I am slightly in denial about the fact that summer is basically over.  For us in the Pacific Northwest – it never really started – maybe that is why.  I am not actually a big fan of the sun – but I am a huge fan of the garden, and ours just didn’t produce like it normally does.  The one surprise crop we had were the blueberries that continue to ripen, even when the weather was not cooperating.

So, to celebrate the last of our blueberry harvest, I decided to make a blueberry coffee cake.  I adapted the recipe from my CSA market basket – which looked healthy yet scrumptious – and yes, it was everything I had hoped.  It was so moist and flavorful, and the crumb topping had just the right amount of sweetness.  The best part about this coffee cake?  It was even better the next morning – with a nice cup of coffee.

Ingredients

Cake

  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 cups blueberries
  • 1 teaspoon lemon zest
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1/4 cup butter

Topping

  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1/3 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1/3 cup nuts (optional)
  • 2 tablespoon butter
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preparation

Preheat oven to 425.  Combine flours, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a large mixing blow.  Incorporate thoroughly, then gently fold in blueberries and lemon zest.  In a small bowl whisk together egg, milk, butter and add to flour mixture.  Stir carefully until well incorporated.  Spread mixture onto a greased 8×8 inch baking pan.  In a medium bowl mix together topping ingredients, cutting cold butter until large crumbles form.  Sprinkle over batter and place in center rack in oven.  Bake until top is golden brown, 20-25 minutes, or until a wooden toothpick or skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.  Serve warm.

For a printer-friendly version of this recipe, please click here:  Blueberry Coffee Cake

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New-York Style Crumb Cake

Published on by Dawn14 Comments

As I have mentioned before, I cook and bake not only because I love to eat, but because it makes people happy.  When I feel completely helpless, I know that at least I can make some good food.  My neighbor has been really sick, I mean really sick.  He is doing much better now though, and I feel so fortunate to have him (really his whole family) in my life.  I am a better person and parent because of them.  Every week I think about what I can cook for them – I wish I had the time to cook every night for them – but at least I am able to help out every once in a while.  I think of him as a miracle, and pray that each day he continues to get better and better.

With every miracle comes a tragedy.  My very dear friend at work lost her husband yesterday.  My thoughts and prayers are with her.  They have a 7-year old daughter, and he was not sick, it just happened suddenly out of no where.  When I brought this crumb cake into work, she loved it.  I remember the smile she had on her face.  I wish I could make her another one. 

————————————————————————————————————————

New York City is definitely one of my favorite food cities.  I was fortunate to spend a lot of time there growing up – then more time right after college.  My husband and I always have a long list of places to visit when we are there – almost all related to food.  Now that our kids are old enough, we have started to spend time there again – and I swear it is like a drug.  Once you get a little taste, you just want more.

In April, we spent a week there – with breakfast, lunch, and dinner all planned out.  I had read about Chelsea Market many times, and it was on my list – but I wasn’t sure we would have time to get there.  One morning we headed over to Cook Shop in Chelsea for breakfast, and afterwards decided to take a leisurely walk towards SoHo.  Lucky for us, we just happened to walk by Chelsea Market on our way downtown.  It was a Friday morning – and it was empty – we basically had the whole place to ourselves.  It was amazing, just incredible!  We walked into each and every shop and marveled at the wonderful food.  Everything looked so fresh and delicious – we wanted to try everything.  We decided to grab just one treat that we could snack on later on – and my older daughter had her eye on these crumb cakes.  They looked unbelievable – and they had a crumb topping that was at least an inch thick, if not more.  You could taste the butter with every bite…one piece was easily enough for all four of us.

When I saw this recipe in Bon Appetit, my mind immediately went to Chelsea Market.  This was exactly the crumb cake that we tasted.  This crumb cake definitely brought me back to the city.  The funniest part of the recipe was the serving size – yes, those are NYC sizes.  I served this for dessert one night and took the rest to work – people were coming back for seconds.  This is the real deal here.  

Ingredients

Topping:

  • 1 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted, warm
  • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Cake:

  • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 1/3 cups sour cream
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation

For topping:
Mix both sugars, cinnamon, and salt in medium bowl and whisk to blend. Add warm melted butter and stir to blend. Add flour and toss with fork until moist clumps form (topping mixture will look slightly wet). Set aside.

For cake:
Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Butter 13 x 9 x 2-inch glass baking dish. Sift flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat room-temperature butter in large bowl until smooth. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating until well blended after each addition. Add sour cream and vanilla extract and beat just until blended. Add flour mixture in 3 additions, beating just until incorporated after each addition. Transfer cake batter to prepared baking dish; spread batter evenly with rubber spatula or offset spatula. Squeeze small handfuls of topping together to form small clumps. Drop topping clumps evenly over cake batter, covering completely (topping will be thick).

Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean and topping is deep golden brown and slightly crisp, about 1 hour. Cool cake in dish on rack at least 30 minutes. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Cool completely. Cover and let stand at room temperature.

Cut cake into squares and serve slightly warm or at room temperature.

Makes 12 very large pieces, or 24 medium pieces.

For a printer-friendly version of this recipe, please click here:  New-York Style Crumb Cake

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Vanilla Bean Bundt Cake

Published on by Dawn7 Comments

I can’t tell you how much joy it brings me when my children are fighting over who got a bigger piece of cake.  Ok, it only brings me joy when it is a cake that I made – but when that happens, I know I have done something right – at least in the kitchen.  This is exactly what happened when I made this cake. 

It was just a standard vanilla bundt cake, but boy was it delicious.  The funny part was that my older daughter had been asking me to make a vanilla cake with strawberry sauce.  Fruit sauces are not my favorite – I would much rather make a caramel or chocolate sauce, than a sauce made with fruit any day of the week.  I finally told her that I would make a vanilla cake, but that I would see about the sauce. 

I looked through my pile of recipes in the pantry, and this one emerged from Bon Appetit.  I thought – perfect – a vanilla cake.  I then read the entire recipe, and realized that this was supposed to be served with strawberries – how could things get any better!  It was not really a sauce, but after you add some sugar to the strawberries, it releases some of the juices making the strawberries sit in a light syrup.  This I could deal with.  I love fresh strawberries – but the idea of cooking them and turning them into a sauce is completely not appealing to me at all.  Adding a little sugar to make a syrup, that is a very different story.

My strawberries didn’t get very syrupy, which was fine with me – although my daughter was not as pleased – but still, the cake was so delicious, it made her forget all about that strawberry sauce she had envisioned.

Ingredients

Cake

  • Nonstick vegetable oil spray
  • 1 teaspoon bourbon
  • 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup plus 6 tablespoons unsalted butter (13/4 sticks), room temperature
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • 1/2 cup buttermilk

Glaze

  • 2/3 cup powdered sugar
  • 4 teaspoons (or more) whole milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Strawberries

  • 1 1/2 pounds strawberries, hulled, sliced
  • 3 tablespoons sugar

Special equipment

  • Standard Bundt pan (10-inch-diameter Bundt pan with 33/4-inch-high sides)

Preparation

Cake

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 325°F. Butter and flour standard Bundt pan, then spray pan with nonstick spray. Pour bourbon into small bowl. Scrape seeds from vanilla bean into bourbon; stir to blend well (reserve scraped vanilla bean for another use).

Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in medium bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat butter and both sugars in large bowl until light and fluffy. Add eggs and egg yolk 1 at a time, beating until well blended after each addition. Beat in bourbon-vanilla mixture. Add flour mixture in 2 additions alternately with buttermilk in 1 addition, beating just until blended after each addition. Transfer batter to prepared pan; smooth top evenly (batter will come only halfway up sides of pan).

Bake cake until tester inserted near center comes out clean, about 55 minutes. Cool in pan on rack 15 minutes. Invert cake onto rack and cool completely.

Glaze

Whisk powdered sugar, 4 teaspoons milk, and vanilla in small bowl to blend, adding more milk by 1/4 teaspoonfuls if glaze is too thick to drizzle.

Place sheet of foil on work surface. Place cake (still on rack) atop foil. Using spoon, drizzle glaze over cake in zigzag pattern. Let cake stand at room temperature until glaze sets, about 15 minutes. DO AHEAD Cake can be made up to 1 day ahead. Cover with cake dome and let stand at room temperature.

Strawberries

Toss strawberries and sugar in medium bowl. Let stand at room temperature until juices form, tossing occasionally, about 30 minutes.

Cut cake into wedges and divide among plates. Spoon strawberries with juices alongside and serve.

For a printer friendly version of this recipe, please click here:  Vanilla Bean Bundt Cake

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Blueberry Cornmeal Cake

Published on by Dawn2 Comments

Ingredients

  • Nonstick vegetable oil spray
  • 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2/3 cup yellow cornmeal
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 6 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon honey
  • 10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 3/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar, divided
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 cup ricotta cheese
  • 1/3 cup plain yogurt
  • 3 cups fresh blueberries

Special Equipment

  • 10-inch-diameter springform pan with 2 3/4-inch-high sides

Preparation

Preheat oven to 325°F. Spray 10-inch-diameter springform pan with 2 3/4-inch-high sides with nonstick spray. Whisk flour and next 3 ingredients in medium bowl. Whisk oil, eggs, vanilla, and honey in another medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat butter, 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt in large bowl until creamy. With mixer running on medium speed, gradually add egg mixture; beat to blend. Beat in flour mixture just to blend. Add ricotta and yogurt; beat on low speed just to blend. Pour half of batter into prepared pan. Scatter 1 1/2 cups blueberries over. Spoon remaining batter over in dollops, then spread to cover blueberries. Scatter remaining blueberries over. Sprinkle remaining 1 tablespoon sugar over.

Bake cake until top is golden brown and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Cool completely in pan on rack.

Serves 12

For a printer-friendly version of this recipe, please click here:  Blueberry Cornmeal Cake

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Olive Oil Cakes with Lemon and Olives

Published on by Dawn7 Comments

 

My husband and I love to try new restaurants.  If we don’t have a good meal, but have heard really good things about the restaurant, we might come back one or two more times.  After that – if things don’t dramatically improve – we are done.  We don’t have that many opportunities to go out that we can afford more than that. 

When Tilth opened, I heard the buzz.  I put it on my list, and within a few months – we had our first experience there.  It is in a beautiful bungalow in a neighborhood near where we live – there is ample parking, and the inside is not too fancy, but has a warm welcoming feeling  – like you are going to someone’s house for dinner.  The food was so incredible, I don’t think I left an entire speck on my plate.

It quickly became my favorite restaurant.  When my husband asked where I wanted to go for dinner for my birthday, I didn’t even have to think twice.  We happened to sit at the bar that night – and the manager commented on how many times we had eaten there in a year – 12 times.  I turned red.  I couldn’t believe we had been there so often, although I was not surprised, I was in love with the food!  I don’t think I have ever left a morsel on my plate.

One night when we were there, they had an Olive Oil Cake on the dessert menu.  Although the title looked interesting, what hooked me in was what else it was paired with – candied fennel, olive brittle and fennel ice cream.  My obsession with fennel took over, and I had to try it.  Not only were the sides incredible – the Olive Oil Cake was to die for.  It was warm and dense, with a ton of wonderful olive oil and lemon flavor.  Everything about it was perfect – definitely the best dessert I have ever had there.

I tried to recreate the recipe the best I could, but it is not exactly there, although this cake was wonderful in its own way.  It was much lighter than Tilth’s version, but full of flavor.  My girls LOVED the mini cakes, and they stayed fresh for a few days in an air-tight container.

Ingredients

Olives:

  • 1 cup water
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup picholine olives

Cake:

  • 5 egg yolks
  • 4 egg whites
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar, divided
  • 3/4 tablespoon lemon zest
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 cup pastry flour

Preparation

To make a simple syrup, stir 1 cup of water with 1 cup of sugar over medium high heat until sugar is dissolved.  Bring the mixture to a bowl, then add the olives.  Blanch the olives in the simple syrup for 5 minutes.  Drain the olives and place in a dehydrator at 135 degrees for 2 hours. 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Beat egg yolks and 1/2 cup of sugar in a mixer until thick and pale.  With the mixer on, add the lemon zest and lemon juice.  Slowly add the olive oil in a steady stream.  Do not add the oil too quickly, or the batter will break.  Continue adding until all the oil is combined.

Sift the flour.  Using a wooden spoon, stir the flour into the egg yolk mixture until combined.  Do not overwork.  Beat the egg whites with the salt until foamy.  Slowly add the remaining sugar and beat until the whites form soft peaks.  Fold one third of the whites into the batter until combined.  Fold in the rest of the whites.

Divide the batter into greased muffin tins without papers or use silicone cupcake containers.  Bake in the oven for about 15-17 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center is clean.

Chop the olives and serve with the cakes while still warm.  Cakes are also good completely cooled.

Makes about 24.

For a printer friendly version of this recipe, please click here:  Olive Oil Cakes with Lemon and Olives

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Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Ganache

Published on by Dawn6 Comments

Every year for my husband’s birthday, he requests a chocolate cake.  This chocolate cake has a long history, long before we met.  He grew up in a household where his mother was not a baker.  All the sweet packaged foods that I longed for during my childhood – he had in his kitchen.  I’m pretty sure his mother would have purchased just about anything he expressed interest in eating.  He was definitely one of those very skinny kids growing up that couldn’t gain weight even if he tried.  To a certain extent…he is still like that.  So, back to the cake – his Aunt actually was the baker of the family – she made wonderful banana cake (not bread, cake – a dense and delicious cake that begs for chocolate ganache on top) and my husband’s favorite – the chocolate cake with pudding in the middle.

The first year we were together, I tried to recreate this cake – so I bought a package of chocolate Jello pudding, and instead of frosting between the two layers of cake, I spread on the pudding.  It was very thick, and the cake was very tall – but delicious.  Over the years, I have branched out and tried lots of different cakes – and this year was no different.   The original recipe from Bon Appetit was for a Praline Chocolate Cake – but I decided to bag the praline, and make it into a double layer cake, instead of just one.  The cake was so moist with a nice chocolate flavor – and not too rich, just the perfect consistency.  The ganache on top – oh my goodness – what a combination with the cake.  The frosting was not too thick, but there was just enough to give you a good tasting with every bite.  I also liked the size that this cake ended up making – because it ended up being a 4.5″ x9″ cake, I was able to slice it easily into either really thick or really thin pieces.  I highly recommend this for anyone asking for a chocolate birthday cake – you cannot go wrong.

Ingredients

Cake:

  • Nonstick vegetable oil spray
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes, room temperature
  • 1/4 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1/2 cup boiling water
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
  • 1/4 cup buttermilk
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Ganache:

  • 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
  • 3 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
  • 2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

Preparation

For cake:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray 9-inch cake pan with nonstick spray. Line with parchment. Spray parchment. Dust with flour, tapping out any excess.

Place butter and cocoa powder in medium bowl. Pour 1/2 cup boiling water over; stir. Let stand 2 minutes; whisk until blended. Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, and coarse salt in another medium bowl. Whisk buttermilk, egg, and vanilla in large bowl. Gradually whisk cocoa mixture into buttermilk mixture; whisk until smooth. Add flour mixture in 3 additions, whisking to blend between additions (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pan.

Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes. Run knife around pan edges to release cake. Invert onto rack; remove pan and parchment. Cool completely.

For ganache:
Place chocolate and cream in microwave-safe bowl. Heat in microwave in 15-second intervals, stirring occasionally, until melted and smooth. Stir in butter. Let stand until spreadable, about 30 minutes.

Cut the cake in half.  Spread some frosting on the top of one half – then place the other cake half on top of the frosted piece.  Spread over top and sides of cake. Transfer cake to plate. Chill 2 hours and up to 1 day.

For a printer-friendly version of this recipe, please click here:  Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Ganache

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